Oscar Isaac Joins Viggo Mortensen On Two Faces Of January

Prepare to see a lot more of Oscar Isaac in the coming years. The brooding actor, who appeared in two of 2011's most controversial films, Zak Snyder's Sucker Punch and Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive, has recently wrapped his starring role on the Coen Brothers' 1960s-set drama Inside Llewyn Davis, and is gearing up to share the screen with heralded Spanish ingénue Elena Anaya (The Skin I Live In) in the Gonzalo López-Gallego's thriller Inertia. And now, Variety reports this bold-browed rising star has entered into negotiations to co-star opposite Viggo Mortensen in Two Faces of January.

Should he sign on, Isaac would be reteaming with Drive scribe Hossein Amini, who not only penned the adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's crime novel, but will also make the film is directorial debut. As Amini has shown a distinct talent for crime tales with curious love triangles, he seems a great fit for Highsmith's style. (Prior Highsmith adaptations include Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley).

Two Faces of January will focus on an unlikely trio made up of a con artist, his wife and an American student, whose fates are bound together following the murder of a police officer. While the trade doesn't say who is up for what part, in the novel the con man named Chester MacFarland is said to be in his forties, so it's almost certain that Mortensen will take that role, leaving Isaac to play the American student, Rydal Keener. There's no word yet on who might play Mrs. MacFarland, but in the meantime, keep an eye out for Isaac the Jeremy Renner-fronted thriller The Bourne Legacy.